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Published: August 21st 2006
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Potosi
A view of the city from the mine. Its me again! I know its Grahams turn but I really liked it in Potosi so I stole this blog off him! My story begins at the border between Bolivia and Argentina ..... God, what a nightmare! Our book said that it was open 24hrs so we planned to get there with plenty of time to catch the 8am bus to Potosi. Of course, we got there and it was closed. After an overnight bus the last thing that we wanted to do was wait an hour outside in sub zero temps. I thought I was going to die!! It was bloody fffreeeezing!! Brrrr .... Now, work this one out .... Bolivia open their side at a different time!! Another hr wait, this time in no mans land. Seriously, I was going to die!! We eventually made it across, fingers and toes still intact .... just. We had walked into a different world! Its so hard to explain. Bolivia is the poorest country in South America, our backpacking honeymoon was over!!
Amongst the chaos on the streets we found the 8am bus (which subsequently left at 9!) and off we went. This bus was like no other we had been
Bolivian Lady 1
I love her hat!! on. It was completely unroadworthy and full to the brim with people and produce. At one point, I had a lady practically on my lap! There was also an interesting whiff about the bus, one that I will never forget. We had an 8hr bus journey ahead of us and typically about 2mins into it I needed the loo. It was a painful experience as it was bumpy dirt roads all the way!
Once in Potosi we checked into the nearest place we could find .... a dodgy looking hotel across from the bus station. I wouldn´t have been surprised if you could pay by the hour. I particularly liked the tiger bed spread! Hahaha! That night I was sick from the altitude. We were in the highest city (of its size) in the world, 4100m above sea level and I was pretty sure my head was close to exploding. The only way I can think to describe it is by imagining your head is an orange juice carton or a yoghurt pot in an aeroplane. To make matters worse I had to then stick my head in a toilet that hadn´t been cleaned in 10yrs! Thankfully in the
A miner ...
... taking a well earned break. morning I had recovered.
The reason for us being in Potosi in the 1st place was to check out the local working mine. We´d heard that you could even blow things up with dynamite. We didn´t take much convincing, well ... I didn´t. ; ) The mine was once full of silver so the city was really quite wealthy, hence the expresssion "to be as rich as a Potosi". However, the Spanish left and took all the silver and riches with them, leaving the Bolivians with scrap. Finding tin in the mine was a result for a while until the tin price crashed. They don´t have much luck do they!? The tour was fantastic if not a little scary! We were ushered out a little early as explosions were getting too close .... the whole mountain was shaking!! Even small bits of rubble were falling around us, it was all soooo loud, a real adrenalin rush. On the way out we bumped into a little girl selling stones. Turns out her dad had died the year before in the mine and she now lived in a little hut outside it with her mum and no income ..... it was
Shocking!
This 12 yr boy worked down the mine with his dad. His dad (also pictured) had got ill because of the asbestos and could no longer work to full capacity so needed his sons help. The family wouldn´t have survived without it! really sad!!
You are probably all wondering why I liked it so much there as I´ve pretty much moaned all the way through this blog but it was the difference in culture that gripped me. The people were so poor and the way of living so different, they don´t even have hot water!! I struggled lasting 10mins without hot water ... we so take it for granted. I loved that the city oozed colour and character and the way the Bolivian ladies dress is fab .... although their cooking stinks!! Having said that, they do make exceedingly yummy hash brown thingys with egg in the middle. They kept us a alive for 2 days!! Mmmmm ....
Lynny x
The explosions ....... I couldnt get out of there quick enough! bloody scary! The conditions in the mine are hard to comprehend .... many many deaths every year. Life expectancy in the mine is no more than 15 years after you start work there. Most die from Lung problems. The tiny hole that the miner is crawling out of in the photos was typical, we were even allowed down there if we wanted. Lynny wanted to (the nutter) but
Wonky Donkey
Gray setting the trend with another wonky helmet! He hates this photo!! Does anyone think that his legs look unusually short!? haha there was no way I was going down there! haha
Gray x
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amy and lee
non-member comment
how sad
you sometimes forget that people are still living in those conditions :( did you buy any stones from the little girl? poor girl! nice that they've got a bit of a tourist industry tho. and coca leaves... do they just sell them at the markets? how odd! xx